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Ecuadorean and Swedish officials met Monday in Stockholm to discuss a cooperation agreement seeking to allow Swedish justice officials to interview WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before the year's end regarding the rape allegations levied against him.
"We hope to have an agreement soon ... we hope to have it well before Christmas," Swedish justice ministry official Cecilia Riddselius told AFP.
Assange has been provided refuge inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London since June 2012, due to fears he risks extradition to the United States to face espionage charges should he turn himself over to Swedish authorities.
Swedish officials previously demanded Assange travel to Sweden to be interviewed, but eventually relented and agreed to interview him in London. In the Swedish justice system questioning is required before formal charges can be made.
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Ecuador’s representatives have repeatedly stated that they are willing to debate Assange's presence in their diplomatic office but stressed that an agreement needed to be in place before Swedish officials could interview Assange in their London embassy.
Riddselius said that the agreement currently under negotiation was not specifically linked to the Assange case.
"This is a general agreement about judicial help in criminal cases that will allow authorities in the respective countries to help each other," she told AFP.
Last month Swedish authorities dropped three charges of sexual assault against Assange due to the expiration of the charges. However, the more serious rape charge will not expire until 2020.
Assange has always maintained his innocence in light of the charges and has repeatedly offered to cooperate with Swedish officials under the condition he not be extradited, an offer that has been rebuffed by the Swedish prosecutor in charge of the case.
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The Ecuadorean embassy in London is under 24-hour police supervision; Assange risks arrest should he leave. The policing cost has caused British officials some consternation, with British Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire publicly attempting to blame Ecuador for the ongoing dispute.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Xavier Lasso came out strongly against statements made by Swire, saying that the U.K. was abusing diplomatic relations by threatening to violate the immunity of a diplomatic building and maintaining an “invasive police enclosure.”
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